Pain of the Past
by Fai Gensou
Summary: When Kamiya Kaoru inherits an old but wellkept dojo on the outskirts of town, she and her friends must discover its hidden secret, lest they fall prey to the pain of their past... ABANDONED
1. Dreams

Pain of the Past

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Disclaimer- I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Summary- Re-incarnation fic, set in present day Tokyo. When Kamiya Kaoru inherits an old but well kept dojo on the edges of Tokyo, she thinks little of it…until she goes to look it over. She finds a place of secrets and lingering bloodstains, visible at twilight, or at dead midnight. But when her apartment building catches fire, Kaoru has little choice but to live there until she can find a new apartment. To prove that her imaged bloodstains aren't real, she invites friends Sagara Sanosuke, Takani Megumi, and her brat of a cousin Myojin Yahiko, to live with her. Sanosuke also brings a friend of his, Himura Kenshin. But from day one things aren't as they appear. Dreams of disaster enter the thoughts of the dojo new occupants, and images of the past play themselves out in front of their eyes. But when a man bearing an grudge dating back to the Bakumatsu appears, Kaoru and her friends must delve into the dojo's past…and their own pain-filled pasts as well, lest they fall victim to the man's grudge and add blood to its bloodstained blade.

Note- This idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while. Though, usually it's in the story Edodale, and it involves Kenshin being Oibore and whole lot of other things. But right now I'm having a little trouble with Millennium I and just need to write something that for once isn't a cross over or a story that involves the future of the little world I'm creating. This story might actually be updated faster than Millennium I, so please bear with me.

Chapter 1- _Dreams_

Dreams aren't something unusual for kendo instructor Kamiya Kaoru. Her dreams normally consist of the normal things one would expect a twenty-year-old woman to dream. Her dreams normally were of the right guy, model students who actually cared for the art of kenjutsu, and of all the things that girls would dream. But ever since her father died six months ago, and left her an old dojo dating back to the Meiji Jidai, her dreams have been anything but normal. Now, Kaoru's dreams are filled with a red-haired man, dressed in old-style clothes. Normally they're of him doing tasks that at that time were for women, but they had shifted, changing to where she's attacking him on the street, armed with a bokken. Hugging her, leaving her crying amidst fireflies. Raising his head, cold amber eyes in place of warm amethyst. _Okay Kamiya, just go in, see if there's anything worth something, leave, and forget about it till you need the money and sell to somebody with enough time and money to turn this into something. _Kaoru thought as she parked her car near the gate. She rarely used her car, except when she traveled anywhere and Sanosuke came along. He had this weird phobia about trains.

Sanosuke hadn't come on this trip with her, but Kaoru hadn't been able to locate public transport to this place. Bus routes stop seven miles from this old place, and that was the closest. The outskirts of the city were reserved for those who wanted to live in the past and served as a minor tourist spot. Her father had left her the key to the property, along with the deed, his life savings, pension, and the techniques and secrets of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. The family sword style had been started by Kamiya Koshijiro, and had been handed down through the family. His daughter, Kamiya Kaoru, had been murdered before she had borne a child, but the style survived through family members of the Kamiyas and the Myojins. Myojin Yahiko had been the last student of Kamiya Kaoru when she died, and even though he himself had been killed the same day, distant family members had came forward to claim the body and thus met the Kamiyas. She and her gaki cousin Yahiko and both been named for the two of them.

Opening the gate, Kaoru wondered what the key was for, since there was no lock on the gate to begin with. In front of her was the typical training hall of dojos. Deciding to start her explorations there, she opened the door, once again pondering the need of a key. Nothing seemed to have a need for a lock in this place. She entered the training hall, glancing around. It still held the nameplates of the people who last trained there.  Kaoru read to herself the names on the nameplates. "Master…empty…Assistant Master…Kamiya Kaoru…students…Myojin Yahiko…Tsukayama Yutarou…expected…"

Turning from the nameplates, she faced the front of the training hall. There was a pair of swords, a katana and wakizashi, that she supposed belonged to Kamiya Koshijiro. Kaoru placed these in the duffel she had brought with her, to take to the museum and donate. At least there they would be safe from thieves. There were several bokkens and a shinai also in the training hall, but she was reluctant to remove these, for some reason. Kaoru figured that when she wanted to practice in peace and quiet that she could always drive out here.

She moved to the living area of the dojo. Kaoru didn't find much, but what she did find was worth holding on to, for the time being. Several kimonos were folded in a chest in one room, along with several gi and hakama sets for training. A diary sat on the table, but she didn't touch. It didn't feel right to read another's diary, even if that person had died over a hundred years ago. The family's hope chest was in a closet, holding several other kimonos, man-sized clothes, a bokken that was for decoration, and an old photograph. Kaoru picked up the photograph and wiped the dust off the glass. Four people were in the photo. A girl who looked remarkably like her, a boy that looked a twin to her bratty cousin Yahiko, a rooster-headed man who was stock straight that resembled Sanosuke, and another man. He had a sword at his side, and looked very familiar, like the man from her dreams… Checking the back of the photo, she read, "Kamiya Kaoru, Myojin Yahiko, Sagara Sanosuke, and Himura Kenshin, Yokohama, Meiji 11 (1878)"

_Himura…doesn't Sanosuke know a man named Himura? Some professor of Japanese History at Tokyo University?_ Thought Kaoru as she replaced the picture in the chest. Finishing up her tour of the dojo, she found nothing else of note worthy interest. Returning to the training hall, she was surprised to find that it was sunset already. It hadn't seemed like she had spent several hours there, but she had. Kaoru shivered at the breeze blowing through the hall, suddenly cold, despite the fact it was May already. A sense of foreboding filled her, as if something was going to happen. Sounds of a fight, not one that would normally take place in a dojo, filled the air. She saw no one, but could clear as day hear the fight, and after a moment, hazy images appeared.

The red-haired man from her dreams and the photograph faced off against a tall dark-haired man in a police uniform. Both held swords. The police officer injured the-_rurouni_- Kaoru called him for some reason, and blood dripped from his wound on his chest. The images faded as if they had never been there before, but the smell of blood lingered. Tentatively walking to the place where she could have swore they were, she find a dark stain.

_Nani?_ Kaoru thought as she kneeled down, touching the stain. Pulling back, she found her fingers stained with blood. Standing up and backing away slowly, she eyed the stain, as if it was going to jump her any second. But as the sun set slowly, the stain faded away, out of mind and sight, as if nothing but a dream. 

Deciding that the dust had gotten to her, while her more logical side protested that she hadn't find any dust, Kaoru quickly left the training hall, eager to leave, for fear that her mind would decide to play more tricks on her. She had resolved to take the swords to the museum the next day after the school where she taught let out for the day, and to push the creepy old place from her mind. Yet it wasn't until she had driven for five minutes and had to stop at a red light that she noticed the tears streaming down her face, her dream of a similar nature playing itself over and over again inside her head. As soon as Kaoru reached her apartment, she went straight to bed, deciding that she was merely suffering from a lack of sleep. Turning out the light, Kaoru thought, _I'm not going to let that old place get to me! My dream must've played itself out in front of my eyes and the blood was a trick of light. I'll be fine in the morning…_trailing off as she fell asleep.

Dream Sequence 

She was running down a misty dirt street, old-style buildings lining the road with fences bordering them. She was wearing a dark blue kimono with an even darker blue hakama. The man she was following had red hair, pulled into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. He wore a navy blue kimono with a white hakama, a katana at his side. She herself held a bokken in her hands. "Hitokiri Battousai!"

He turned towards her as she walks closer to him She noticed a cross shaped scar on his left cheek. "At long last I've found you. Your two months of bloodshed in the streets ends tonight. Prepare yourself!"

"Oro?"

"Don't play innocent with me! Who else would ignore the edict and walk around with a sword!"

She swung at him and he leaped out of the way, but crashed into a fence and fell to the ground in a heap."That didn't take long…Hitokiri Battousai?"

"Rurouni. Sessha wa rurouni. Sessha is merely a tabi no kenkaku, de gozaru yo. Sessha just arrived in town. Sessha doesn't know anything about bloodshed in the streets-"

"Well-well how do you explain this katana at your waist? Kenkakus aren't allowed to wear real katanas!" She drew the katana from the saya, and was shocked.

"Nani…kore…sakabatou?"

"Could this katana kill anyone?" He asked.

"It couldn't…the nicks don't smell of blood, there's no clouds of tallow on the blade. Like it's never been used. You really are just…"

"Hai. A rurouni."

"But why carry a katana you can't use-" the police whistle cut her off. "-the police whistle!" she ran off, throwing the rurouni's sword. "This time for sure!"

The image faded, and came to focus. She was being held in the air by a huge man, about 6"7'. A shorter man had appeared in the doorway of the dojo training hall, and the man holding her asked him what was wrong. He muttered the word "strong", and fell, revealing the rurouni._N_

"Ru…rurouni!"

"I'm sorry I'm late. I heard the whole story from him."

The man holding her said, "You again. You're probably with the girl on this "Hito o ikasu" thing."

"Iya. A sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu is the art of killing. Whatever pretty words you use to speak of it, this is its true nature. What Kaoru-dono says are the words of one who has never dirtied her hands. An idealistic joke."

She heard herself murmur "Rurouni" as he continued.

"But Sessha likes Kaoru-dono's idealism better. If one can ask so much, Sessha wants the world to accept this joke as its true nature."__

The man holding her captive ordered his men to attack him. She yelled at him to run. He made this speech about how if any one who doesn't like to visit doctor should retreat. They responded with that there would be no injuries, just one death. He responded with inhuman speed that was mistaken for sorcery. He easily took down the men as if they were nothing more than untrained pupils. He than turned his attention to the man holding her and said, "Sessha forgot one thing. Hitokiri Battousai's style of fighting is not Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu. It's an old style of kenjutsu which arose in the Sengoku Jidai, designed to face many opponents at once. The name is Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. And without the sakabatou, it is slaughter with deadly swiftness."

Something clicked in her head. Or rather, in the person in whom her dream-self existed in. But what that something was, she would never know.

_End Dream Sequence_

Kaoru gasped as her alarm clock awoke her. It was only when she looked into the bathroom mirror that she noticed the tears streaming down her face, and noticed the feeling of abandonment, loneliness, and unrequited love.

_Author's Note_

Well…how is it? I'm hoping that this story is a little more popular than Millennium I, but maybe that's just wishful thinking. The dream bit was taken from maigo-chan's translations at wwwdotmaigo-chandotorgslashrurokendothtm.Please Read and Review. __


	2. History

Pain of the Past

Chapter 2

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Disclaimer- If I did own RuroKen, which I don't, I would have pushed for the Jinchuu Arc to be animated.

Note- I often in the flashbacks or dreams based off maigo-chan's translations, throw in some of the original Japanese words. Why? Umm… it's less to do with I know Japanese and kinda more to do with the fact I have a complete set of Rurouni Kenshin manga in Japanese and that I can read hiragana. Yeah… I don't wanna brag, but when you save up $210, then it kinda shows you're devoted.

Chapter 2-_History_

The day passed quickly enough for Kaoru, almost too quickly. It seemed to have only have been an hour when her last class left for the day and she was putting up the equipment. Sanosuke dropped by her classroom since his last class ended fifteen minutes before hers. He taught the boxing/wrestling class at the same school as Kaoru, and she had met him when she had answered the ad for a new kendo teacher at the school a year ago. Having graduated a year early, she was the youngest teacher there, at twenty. Sanosuke himself was twenty-two and had only been there a year before she had started. (1) During the lunch break, she had told him of her trip to the old dojo the day before and he had urged her, instead of going to the museum, to go to his friend Himura Kenshin, a professor of Japanese history at Tokyo University. Sanosuke had assured her that his friend was an expert on swords and could give her the history of the swords better than the museum could. "Oi, jou-chan, you almost done?"

Putting up the last of the equipment, she grabbed the duffel that she had kept in her locker during the day and said, "I'm done. You sure that your friend can tell me about the swords?"

"I told you jou-chan, Kenshin's the best at these things. He could probably tell you about the dojo itself too. He knows more about the Bakumatsu and Meiji Jidai than any one else in Nihon."

They started walking to the campus. "I told Kenshin we were coming today, so he'll be in his classroom since his last class of the day lets out around this time." Sanosuke said as they entered the building, passing students leaving classes.

The classroom his friend had was like an auditorium, with a blackboard, table, overhead projector and screen at the bottom with the seats for the students in a half-circle/stadium on the other side of the room. He was organizing papers when they walked in. "Ah, Sano, looks like you were able to get through all the students. Were there casualties this time?" he asked as Sanosuke and Kaoru walked over to his table.

"Not any more. They know what happens when they get in the way. This is Kamiya Kaoru. She's the one who found the swords. Jou-chan, this is Himura Kenshin."

During the greeting Kaoru had bowed when her name was mentioned, and Kenshin returned in kind. Kaoru studied him. He had red hair, which just brushed the collar of his flannel shirt. His eyes were a peculiar shade of blue, one that looked like a soft lavender color. He had a scar on his left cheek in the form of a cross, leaving Kaoru to wonder where he had gotten it. His flannel shirt was left opened to reveal a T-shirt under it. Khakis with sneakers completed the outfit. An image of the man from her dreams appeared over his image, and she had to give herself a mental shake to rid her vision of the specter. Smiling calmly, he said, "You have a question in your eyes."

"Aren't you a little young to be a professor? And are you even Nihonjin?" The questions came out before Kaoru could stop them, and she blushed at her sudden bluntness.

"I'm thirty, and my mother was Irish." The answer came so calmly that Kaoru figured that he got those questions a lot. "Sano said you found swords at a old dojo you inherited?"

"I called him at lunch." Sanosuke muttered to her when she turned her questioning eyes on him. Turning back to Kenshin, she said, "Hai. My father left the property to me when he died six months ago and I had just gotten around to investigating the place yesterday, Himura-sensei." Showing respect for his position as a professor.

"Kenshin will do. You're not one of my students. Where did you find the swords?"

Pulling the swords from her duffel, she placed them on the table opposite the papers and answered, "They were in the training hall, at the head, where it looked like there was a shrine to the creator of the style."

"A shrine?"

"Hai, the dojo was the original dojo for Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu, but has been taught at the Kamiya-Myoujin Dojo since the creator's daughter was killed. It remained in the family as a residence and was handed down in my family, but I haven't entered it since my mother died as a child."

"Had you ever entered the training hall as a child?"

"Iie. I wasn't allowed, but my father told me that the swords of Kamiya Koshijirou, the one who created Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu at the beginning of Meiji Jidai."

"Do you know their history before than?"

"Iie. Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu was created after Kamiya Koshijirou saw the bloodshed of the Bakumatsu at the hands of satsujin-ken, and sought to create a style based on katsujin-ken. He was killed during the Seinan Wars."

"Ah…the Bakumatsu…" he said, examining the condition of both swords. Both were in perfect condition.

"Do you think that's important?" asked Kaoru.

"It could be. Do you know how old the dojo is?"

"Otou-san told me that it's been in the family for many generations, being descended from samurai. But he did tell me about how in Meiji 11 a man claiming to be Hitokiri Battousai killing people under the name of the school, causing it to lose its students. Apparently it was just someone who wanted the land for its value, because of the Westernization policy."

This caught Kenshin's attention. "Did he tell you who stopped him?"

"He would just smile and say that it was, supposedly, the real Battousai, as a rurouni, who defeated the imposter. But I don't know. It seems a little too much like out of manga to be real."

"They say that the line between fact and fiction is not as thick as we might think. And no one knows what happened to Battousai after the First Battle at Toba Fushimi. Whether he committed seppuku or lived into the era he helped build, is entirely your opinion. As for the swords, I would say that these are something to be prized, and probably safer in a museum behind glass then left in an old dojo on the edges of town."

Accepting Kenshin's opinion and taking the swords back, Kaoru thanked him and left, Sanosuke staying behind. Turning to Kenshin he asked, "Oi, why'd you ask about the dojo?"

"I had a feeling, de gozaru." Sanosuke raised an eyebrow at the 'de gozaru' but keep quiet. "Anyway, I'd better catch up with Kaoru. She promised me dinner."

Watching Sanosuke leave and close the door behind him, Kenshin turned back to his desk and pulled out a notebook. Flipping through the pages, he stopped at the last full page. Looking over a drawing of a dojo, old but well-maintained, and a sketch of a girl, details fuzzy except for her blue eyes, he whispered, "A feeling… Sessha had a feeling, de gozaru yo. Nothing more." Closing the notebook and placing it in his backpack with the papers that needed grading, he left his classroom and headed to his car, eyes distant as he remembered the dreams that haunted him every night, dreams of a history he'd rather not remember…and of a girl he had lost…

Well, how was it? Isn't there anyone who has read this and liked it? If you have a comment and can't review, please send me e-mail. No reviews gets me into a runt I can't climb out of…

(1)- I have them a year older than they were in the series because it made sense to me in my head and it's artistic license.


	3. Images

Pain of the Past

Chapter 3

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Disclaimer- I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Watsuki-sama has that honor. But I do own this story, even if the general idea is kinda overused.

Note- DOMO ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! That was to broken-beer-bottle, the first person ever to review this!

Chapter 3-_Images_

Reaching his apartment, Kenshin tried to get started on grading the papers his class had turned in, but his mind wasn't on it. It kept drifting back to the meeting he had had. He had seen those swords before in his dreams. They were never wielded, but in front of a shrine to someone in a dojo-training hall. Leaving his papers and entering his kitchen, Kenshin dug around in a cabinet before finding a bottle of sake and a cup. He had one kept up there for the term paper seasons, when the good and horrible papers the students handed in gave him a headache. Also when his guardian came on his rare visits from Kyoto, he had to keep it hidden unless he wanted his guardian to drink it. (three guesses to who it is, and the first two don't count)

Pouring some out and downing it in one gulp, Kenshin winced slightly at the off taste it had. No matter what kind of intoxicating drink he drank, it always had the same off taste to it. It was coppery, almost metallic-like…like blood. He had noticed it ever since he had been dragged out for his birthday to a bar once he was legal. Pouring himself another cupful and sipping it slowly, his most frequent dream played itself out before his eyes. Walking down a dirt street, dressed in old time clothing, sword on his hip, a girl, wearing similar clothes and carrying a bokken, jumped him, calling him Hitokiri Battousai. Crashing into a wall, saying he was a rurouni, the girl unsheathing his sword, revealing a sakabatou. Her running off, to the real killer. At an old dojo, the man before him falling to the ground, murmuring the word "strong", him going off on this speech about how kenjutsu is satsujinjutsu, the art of killing. Taking down man after man, even five at a time. Turning to the man who held the girl in the air. Saying that Hitokiri Battousai didn't use the style he was dishonoring, nor did he use the original style that the killer used. That he used Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, the Honorable Sword of the Flowing Heavens…

Kenshin wasn't stupid. He knew that the style of the densetsu hitokiri was the same one that his guardian had taught him. Battousai's master was still alive when he died. Closing his eyes, he felt something wet on his left cheek. Brushing it lightly with his fingers and opening his eyes, he pulled away his fingers. It was blood. His scars were bleeding. Again. They did that every once and awhile. The vertical scar had appeared one morning in the months before his fifteenth birthday, bleeding slightly. The scar that crossed it appeared the night of January 2nd. He was doing the last of his vacation assignments, when he suddenly smelled white plums. Going to the window, he saw it was snowing. Turning to the mirror, he saw the new scar that had appeared, bleeding and running through the first one that had appeared.

The white plums confused him, because it was the same perfume that his one serious girlfriend had worn. Yukishiro Tomoe had been his girlfriend during that hectic 9th grade year where the whole of that grade's population panicked over the threat of entrance exams. She had been three years older than him, and just before break he had broken up with her, saying that while he loved her, he felt that she would be happier with someone else. And she was, having married an old childhood friend that she hadn't seen in years, Kiyosato Akira. But that night when the second scar had appeared, he dreamed that he had killed Kiyosato, him having been guarding his target. The second dream was where he had killed Tomoe by accident, her having gotten between his sword and his target, striking both of them.

But now his scars would bleed whenever he dreamed that a raven-haired girl with striking blue eyes had been shot by the older version of the boy that he glimpsed in the dreams that had Tomoe in them, and where he had killed him, defiling a holy sword, and his vision going black as he heard and felt people running towards him, feeling their shock, feeling their horror, their sadness… Kenshin dozed into a light sleep, never one to fall asleep deeply nowadays, not with the dreams, yet knowing that their images of a painful past that he'd rather not remember would taunt him even in this doze…

_With Sanosuke and Kaoru…_

Kaoru, as she had promised Sanosuke, treated him to dinner. Not her cooking of course, not after he had insulted it and she had thrown everything in reach that wasn't breakable at him. No she wasn't dumb enough to do a repeat performance. They ate at the Akebeko, where Tae bugged Sanosuke about his tab. Again. For the twentieth time this week. And the thirtieth time this month. And it was the 8th of May. Paying for the food and Sanosuke begging that he would come up with the money soon, they left. "Why didn't you tell Kenshin about the people you saw? Maybe he could've told you who they were."

"One, I don't know if I saw anything at all, and two, he would've thought I was crazy. But I was planning on driving out there again before sundown to see if it happens again. Wanna come?"

"Might as well, not like I haven't got anything to do."

They drove out to the dojo, Kaoru telling Sanosuke everything that happened in the training hall the day before. They arrived just before the sun began to set. Entering the training hall, Kaoru went over to where she had been the night before, Sanosuke following her. Shadows grew longer as the sun fell lower, the remaining light tingeing everything orange. Just as before, the translucent images appeared. But they were different this time. The police officer guy was there, but someone who looked a lot like Sanosuke was also there. The police guy stabbed the Sanosuke look-a-like in the right shoulder, the images fading out and a bloodstain appearing on the floor, and the images from before appeared. The vision continued on longer than before, ending when the red-haired man straitened up and opened his eyes, revealing cold hard amber, which sent chills down their spines. "Wh-what **was** that Jou-chan?!?!" exclaimed Sanosuke, shaken up over the images.

Kaoru, who had gone over to each bloodstain to find that it was really blood, answered, "I don't know, but watch." As she spoke, the sun had set fully, and the stains disappeared. "You saw that too right? So I didn't image it."

"Unless we're both going crazy, then we both saw it."

"But there is a chance that we didn't see it and we're going crazy? Or at least I am since I saw it first."

"Let's just get out of here, this place gives me the creeps."

Agreeing fully, Kaoru and Sanosuke went back to her car and left. After depositing Sanosuke at his apartment, Kaoru returned to her own.

This mystery churned in her head. What was the secret of the old Kamiya Dojo? Why did a dojo for a peaceful sword style have such a bloody past? Who was the red-haired man? She knew that his name was Himura Kenshin, but who was he? Why does a man in present day Nihon look like a man from the Meiji Jidai? Kaoru knew one thing for sure, that the images should be just be a figment of her imagination. Yet something inside as she passed the hours until her bedtime told that they weren't her imagination. That they were real. And that she had lived through the events in her dreams and the ones the dojo played out to her. If only the cold in her bones would just go away…with the images…of a past that was full of pain…and trying to take over hr life…

End of Chapter 3 

How was it? I wish that this story would get more reviews, it only has one! It makes me feel unloved…


	4. Words

Pain of the Past

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, for it is the brainchild of Watsuki Nobuhiro-sama.

Note: I'm putting Millennium I on hold for a while, for I need to go over it and clean it up a little and find out what happens during the Yugi/Malik duel and figure out how I want to fit in and these things that I've heard through various stories and author's notes about the "Egyptian arc" that everyone seems to know about. So if you're a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! and you know a site where I can find all this stuff out or a site with Yu-Gi-Oh! manga translations then I'll be a very happy camper indeed.

Chapter 4-_ Words_

_Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri._

_A manslayer is a manslayer until death._

The words spoke through his mind, haunting him. Spoken by a gray-haired man with a wakizaki sticking out of his chest, they spoke volumes to Kenshin. Even after he had woken from his doze and stumbled through the rest of his students' papers, dinner, and a shower, finally falling into his bed at a quarter till midnight, the dreams didn't stop. _"Now if you'd only turn over that odd blade…we'd have our Hitokiri-sama back."_

_"Sessha wa rurouni…this one is a wanderer." _

_"Demo…why does your sword still have a sharp edge?" The voice at the edges of his mind whispered. _

_"I never said I wanted Battousai to stay! What I was trying to say is that I want the wanderer to-"_

_"To protect Kaoru-dono, I will once again become the Hitokiri."_

_"As long as Sessha has the strength of the rurouni to protect the people in Sessha's life then Sessha no longer needs the strength of a hitokiri…of a satsujin…of a murderer…de gozaru yo!"_

_"Then even as the Rurouni, you're a failure."_

_"Mou korosu."_

_"Mou korosu? That's my line."_

_Vainly trying to regain his control, but too weak to fight anymore, not in the heat of battle. **He** would tear him apart and leave him down in the void of their mind. The battle ending, talking, trying to steal control. Finally, a crack, big enough for him to punch himself, shocking **Him** back into the void. _

_Months later, peace. Surprise. Happiness. Shock. Blood spurting, staining her favorite yellow kimono. "Shin…ta…" Anger, rage. Control slipping, but not caring. For stealing his second happiness, he deserved the Hitokiri, the one without judgment yet with the ability to punish. Judge, jury, and executioner in one fell swing. Wounds, pain, rage. Turning over the blade, dealing the deathblow. Tainting and defiling a holy sword, created to protect the new generation and era created by the swords of the old. Strength leaving, falling, darkness filling his vision, white plum and jasmine surrounding him. Those words again. "Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri."_

Gasping awake, Kenshin sat up, breathing hard. _A dream…just a dream. But why do the things shown in them seem so familiar?_ Glancing at the clock, he groaned. It was barely 5AM. _Thank God I don't have classes today, I'd fall asleep._ Knowing that if he tried going back to sleep, he'd just have more dreams; he got up, and dressed. Only later when he looked in the mirror did he pause and notice his tears, the ones trekking through his scar coming away tinged with blood. _Damn, why am I letting these dreams get to me? No…it's not the dreams getting to me…it's the words spoken that are getting to me. Those words that I heard in my dreams are ones that had a profound effect on me…or whomever I've been dreaming about. All this started when that first scar appeared one morning._ Reaching up to his scar, after brushing away his tears, he brushed his fingertips against uneven skin. _"You make it rain blood."_

Kenshin closed his eyes, grimacing at the voices. _"I will not die…I don't want to die…To…mo…e…"_

He slid to the floor, and put his head in his hands. With all the dreams and the voices messing with his head, it's a wonder that he didn't go insane from them. _And if they don't, then I will go insane. A hitokiri is a hitokiri until death. He can never be anything else. Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri. Shinu made… _Breathing heavily, Kenshin whispered, "Who or what am I…?"

Kaoru 

Kenshin wasn't the only one plagued by strange voices in weird dreams. Kaoru had them as well. But hers were…a little less violent. _"Sessha doesn't think that your late father wouldn't want trade his daughter's life for his sword style, de gozaru. Sessha is sure that what your father wished for always, would be your happiness first Kaoru-dono."_

_"If you insist on going, you could at least tell me your name before you go. Battousai is a warrior name, so what is your real name? Or don't you want to tell me?"_

_"'Himura Kenshin'. That's the name Sessha goes by now."_

_"I want to crush the man the songs call the strongest of the Ishin Shishi!"_

_"You think of Kenshin as 'Hitokiri Battousai' only!"_

_"When I say I'll kill you…all you can do is die."_

_"A sword is a weapon. Whatever pretty names you give it, swordsmanship is a way to kill. But in the face of such awful truth, the sweet naïve lie she tells is so much better. If Sessha had a wish, it would only be that the sweet naïve lie she tells becomes the truth of this world."_

_"Don't…go back there…don't become a hitokiri…don't…"_

_"But you've always been able to go back to normal before!"_

_"Thank you for everything. Sayonara, Kaoru-dono."_

_Falling to her knees, silent tears trekking down her face. "Ken…shin…" _

_If this keeps up, Kenshin…Kenshin will…disappear…_

_"There's no way to stop the two of them."_

_"The next attack will decide who wins this battle. Life, death, or will they kill each other?"_

_Reaching out, to stop him. Failing, pulling back, more tears, can't watch._

_"Stop!"_

_Sudden halt. Words said. A sudden punch to the face. "Sessha isn't the only one involved anymore de gozaru."_

_"You're back to normal!"_

_"…stay with me…"_

Gasping, Kaoru sat up, sweat literally pouring off her, her breath ragged. She panted, breathing through her mouth, trying to calm her racing heart. It hadn't been like the others, where there had been fights, but a 'slide show' of images and sounds. Stumbling into her bathroom, she chanced a look in the mirror.

Her reflection looked normal enough, if you ignored the dark circles under her eyes and her pale skin, but as she looked, it wavered like water and changed. The red-haired man was trying to leave again. "Sessha…sessha doesn't want to but you in danger Kaoru-dono. Sayonara."

Her grabbing his hand, stopping him. "Stay. Stay with me. Onegai."

His eyes widen slightly in surprise, then warmed with love as he smiled. He moved closer, covering her hand with both of his, bringing it to between their faces. Kaoru looked away at that point, biting her lip and shutting her eyes tightly. Chancing another glance at the mirror, she saw only her reflection. "What was that?" she whispered, left alone as voices from the past whispered in the back of her mind as she turned on the shower. _"Dame…don't become a hitokiri again. Da…me…"_

_"Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri. He can never be anything else."_

_End of Chapter 4_

How was it? I'm gonna be shameless and beg for reviews…please…?

Please R&R at the little purple box please.


	5. Lists

Pain of the Past

Chapter 5

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Disclaimer: (sits at computer dejected at lack of Vol. 7 of RuroKen) Does it look like I own Rurouni Kenshin? DOES IT?!?! (Protest met with silence) That settles it. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Otherwise I would already have Vol. 7.

Summary: See chapter 1.

Note: Please note that I now accept anonymous reviews. I asked if I could uncheck and was told that I could. So go ahead and review. Thank you to Cami Drace and JaneDrew, who are the second and third persons to review this story! Oh and JaneDrew, below is the glossary you asked for. It the collective one for chapters 1-4, and the one for chapter 5 will be at the bottom of the chapter.

Japanese-English Glossary

Chapter 1 

Kendo-Japanese fencing with bamboo swords, or shinai

Kenjutsu- art of swordsmanship

Dojo- place for practice or tournament

Meiji Jidai- Meiji Era of Japan, started when Emperor Meiji came to power in 1868.

Bokken- wooden sword

Gaki- brat, child

Katana- Japanese sword

Wakizashi- short sword wore with the katana

Shinai- bamboo sword

Gi- shirt worn for training

Hakama- traditional men's trousers resembling culottes (whatever those are)

Rurouni- not that I need to put the definition, but it's wandering swordsman, a made up word created by Watsuki-sama

Nani-what

Hitokiri Battousai- Battousai the Manslayer, again, do I really need to put this here?

Sessha wa rurouni- I am a wanderer

Tabi no kenkaku- wandering swordsman

De gozaru yo- that I am

Saya- sheath

Kore- this

Sakabatou- reverse bladed sword

Hai- yes

Hito o ikasu- swords that give life

Iya- no

Sengoku Jidai- Warring States Era where Inu-Yasha takes place

Chapter 2 

Jou-chan- what Sanosuke calls Kaoru in the Japanese version; means missy

Bakumatsu- Meiji Revolution

Nihon- Japan

Nihonjin- Japanese

Sensei- teacher; used to show respect to those of certain jobs (doctor, politician, etc.)

Iie- no

Satsujin-ken- swords that give death

Katsujin-ken- swords that give life

Seinan Wars- Southwest Wars

Otou-san- father

Seppuku- ritual suicide to maintain one's honor; derived from hara-kiri, belly cutting

Oi-hey

Chapter 3 

Sake- rice wine

Densetsu- legendary

Chapter 4 

Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri- A manslayer is a manslayer until death.

Demo- but

Satsujin- murderer

Mou korosu- I'll kill you

Ishin Shishi- imperialist

Sayonara- good-bye

Onegai- please, as in begging

Dame- don't

Chapter 5-_ Lists_

Kaoru stumbled into the Akabeko, brain sleepy and wired from lack of sleep and too much caffeine. "Living up to your name, Tanuki-chan?"

Glaring at her, Kaoru said, "At least some of us aren't kitsunes, Megumi-san."

Takani Megumi laughed, fox ears sliding up and falling back into her hair as she sobered up. "Seriously, Kaoru-chan, you don't look so good. Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Sliding into the booth, Kaoru shook her head, "No I haven't. I'm still having those dreams, and they're not letting me get much sleep. Where's Sanosuke?"

"Late as usual. He said he was bringing a friend, but he's still late."

Just then a voice carried over the chatter of the restaurant. "Sano, it wasn't necessary to drag me out here you know. I'd have come willingly."

"No you wouldn't have. For someone who can cook good, why are you living off ramen?"

"I'm either grading papers, teaching, trying to sleep, or are getting dragged out with you to gambling halls. Ramen's not only cheap, but it doesn't take long to make either. And why are you questioning my eating habits? Last time I checked your fridge, there was only several items of questionable origin that could be considered toxic waste. At least I don't mooch off of others." Kenshin retorted, just as he and Sano appeared.

"Contrary to your belief, food is required to ensure that you don't pass out during class, and variety is good for a change." Argued Sano.

"Sano, I am not paying for you again." Deadpanned Kenshin, knowing perfectly well why Sano dragged him out of his apartment.

"You think I would do that to you?"

"Yes." Was the collective answer for all three of them, having each been mooched off by Sanosuke more than once.

"Don't worry, I actually brought money this time."

"This mean that you'll be paying your tab finally?" asked Tae, who had zeroed in on Sanosuke like a hawk since he came in.

"Sorry, no. Beef-pot for four."

"Is there hope for next time?" pressured Tae.

"Ha! It'll be a cold day in hell when tori-atama pays his tab in full." Commented Megumi, making a jab at Sanosuke's hair, which resembled a rooster.

"And I always thought that foxes caught roosters, Megitsune. You haven't yet."

"I haven't decided on the right one yet."

Settled down into the booth with their drinks, green tea for Kenshin, coffee for Kaoru, Western ice tea for Megumi, and sake for Sanosuke, Kenshin decided to brooch the subject as to why Sanosuke dragged him here. "Why were so insistent on me coming here today Sano? Normally you would let me off the hook."

"Yeah Sanosuke, you called me at 7AM this morning and when you don't have school you're normally asleep until noon." Added Megumi.

"I would have thought that you had been gambling last night, but this morning you when you called you sounded as if you had been up thinking, since you didn't sound drunk." Said Kaoru.

"Sano's got a higher alcohol tolerance than most people, just because he doesn't sound drunk doesn't mean that he is." Kenshin commented, sipping his green tea, wishing that Sano had let him take aspirin before he dragged him out here. _If I keep drinking sake like this I'll turn into Hiko-shishou!_

"How would you know?" questioned Kaoru.

"Where do you think he crashes to sleep it off?"

"Anyway, getting back on track, I know that we've all been having some pretty weird dreams lately. So I thought that maybe there might be something in common between them. If we make a list of what is similar between all of our dreams, maybe we can figure out what the hell is going on."

"You've been having dreams too Sano?" asked Kenshin.

"Yeah. I thought I was the only one until I noticed that both you and Jou-chan were having trouble sleeping for the past six months, starting at around the same time. Megitsune I found out about when I came into her office and found her calling out in her sleep."

"I didn't think you knew how to use your brain tori-atama. You might hurt something." Said Megumi with a smirk.

"Sano's smarter than he looks. But it puts the rest of us at a disadvantage in terms of how much he really knows and with what he's seen." Commented Kenshin.

"Isn't the important thing right now to try and figure out what our dreams have in common and why they started when they did?" Questioned Kaoru. "Maybe if we figure out what's causing them, hopefully they'll stop."

"I've had dreams like this since I was a teenager, but it's only been within the last six months that they've reached the point where I can't get much sleep at night." Said Kenshin.

"Mine have only been within the last six months." Added Kaoru.

"Same here." Said Megumi with her two cents.

"Mainly in the last six months, but I had a few when I was a kid." Sanosuke said, sipping his sake slowly.

"Now that you mention it," started Kenshin, stopping when the food came. "I had a few dreams like that after my parents died and my guardian took me in, but I just thought they were just something my mind had made up." Picking up his line of thought after Tae went back to the kitchen.

"Why don't we all list the things that show up the most in all of our dreams on separate papers and compare? That's the easiest way to do this." Suggested Kaoru. "That way we can actually get to eat."

Almost magically pens and paper before each of them, courtesy of Sanosuke. "Way ahead of you, Jou-chan. I thought this would come up."

Focusing on their food and lists, there wasn't much conversation at the table. _Do I add the parts about where in my dreams I seem to be killing people? Sano said to add everything, so I guess I have to. Even if they are dreams, I don't want to be thought of as a killer, especially by Kaoru-dono. Chotto matte, where'd that come from? _Thought Kenshin, alternating between eating and writing.

_Great, I always wanted to embarrass myself further in front of Kenshin. Thanks a lot tori-atama. Demo, he **does** look a lot like the guy in my dreams though…_ Mused Kaoru, absentmindedly swiping food from Sanosuke's plate.

_Damn you tori-atama! The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass myself with a bunch of silly dreams. Especially the one where you leave me…_ Growled Megumi, eyes softening at that thought.

_Maybe this wasn't the best idea. Jou-chan and Megitsune look like they're gonna kill me, while Kenshin's got that haunted look in his eyes again. He wasn't looking so good this morning, and his scar was bleeding. I've never seen him like that. He looked so…so…lost…and like he's given up on life. Only in my dreams have I ever seen him like this. The same with Jou-chan. I'll admit that part of this was so both of you could get to know each other better. Both of you have told me separately about your dreams, and it seems like you're dreaming of each other. I just want someone to actually be able to live with the one they love…_ Thought Sanosuke, gulping his sake. _Oi, did Jou-chan just take my biggest piece of meat?_

"Anybody finished?" asked, Sanosuke, holding up his finished list.

A chorus of "Hai's" sounded at his question. Everyone placed their lists in the center of the table, and bent over them, nearly bumping heads.

"Oi, Kenshin, you're handwriting is awful."

"It's better than it used to be."

"You should've been a doctor, not a professor."

"Can your students even _read_ your writing?"

"They get a tutorial on it the first month. And Megumi's a doctor, and her writing isn't bad."

"I don't really think that Kenshin's handwriting is _too_ bad. I can read it…ano…what's that say?"

"It _says_ 'bloody rain'. But thanks for the support."

Kenshin's List:

-Slavers being killed

-"Please spare this child!"

-Bandits being killed a swordsman

-"That's too gentle a name for a swordsman. Your name will be Kenshin."

-"I will not die… I don't want to die… To…mo…e…"

-"You make the bloody rain fall."

-"I don't care about her."

-"I will protect you."

-White plum, blood, snow turning red

-"I will never kill again."

-"Sessha wa rurouni."

-"I never said that I wanted Battousai to stay!"

-"Now if only you'll only turn over that odd blade…we'd have our Hitokiri-sama back."

-"To protect Kaoru-dono, I will become a Hitokiri once again."

-"Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri."

-"As long as Sessha has the strength of a rurouni to protect the people in Sessha's life then Sessha no longer needs the strength of a hitokiri…of a satsujin…of a murderer…de gozaru yo!"

-"Mou korosu."

-"Mou korosu? That's my line."

-"Then even as the Rurouni, you're a failure."

-"Shin…ta…"

-"Thank you for everything. Sessha wa rurouni. It's time for me to wander again."

-White plum and jasmine as blackness fills vision

-Scars appearing mysteriously

-Bleeding with dreams of dark-eyed woman, and then with dreams of a blue-eyed woman

-Anger

-Hate

-Bloodlust

-Blood spattering, tainting a holy sword

-Darkness

The rest was illegible. "What's the rest say?" asked Kaoru.

"Uhhh…nothing!"

"You sure?" Kenshin blushed as Kaoru leaned in close, practically nose to nose. "Well?"

"It's just…in some of my dreams, I'm killing people in Kyoto during the Bakumatsu." Said Kenshin, suddenly finding the table very interesting.

"They're just dreams. It's not like they're about a past life or anything." Said Kaoru. "And even if they _are_ from a past life, you're not a killer today, and that's what counts. Unless you've got some skeletons in your past you don't want us to know about?"

Kenshin breathed a silent sigh of relief. _At least she didn't think of me as a killer._ _Demo, why does her opinion matter to me such much?_ "What's on your list?" he asked, everyone now bending over Kaoru's list.

Kaoru's List

- A foggy street at dawn

-"Don't play innocent with me! Who else would ignore the edict and walk around with a sword?"

-"Oro?!?!"

-"Sessha wa rurouni."

-"Ken wa kyouki. Kenjutsu wa satsujinjutsu. No matter what pretty words used to describe it, this is its true nature. But Sessha likes Kaoru-dono's idealism better."

-"Nigete!"

-"The style of Hitokiri Battousai is an old style of kenjutsu from the Sengoku Jidai designed to face many opponents at once."

-"That's the name Sessha goes by now."

-"I want to crush the man the songs call the greatest of the Ishin Shishi!"

-"Now if' d only flip over that odd blade…we'd have our Hitokiri-sama back."

-"When I say I'll kill you, all you can do is die."

-"Don't…don't become a hitokiri again…"

-"There's no way to stop the two of them."

-_If this keeps up…Kenshin…Kenshin will…disappear…_

-"To protect Kaoru-dono, I will once again become a Hitokiri!"

-"But you've always been able to go back to normal before!"

-"Thank you for everything. Sessha wa rurouni. It's time for me to wander again. Sayonara."

-"…Stay with me…"

-Pain in chest

-Blood

-Fading

-Darkness

"There's some other things, but those are the repeat themes." Kaoru said, looking over her list again. "But this morning, I saw something in my mirror. I was asking the rurouni to stay with me. I didn't put it on the list because it wasn't a dream. Also whenever I've been in the dojo training hall at sunset, bloodstains appear on the floor and there's translucent images of two people fighting, either this cop and a Sanosuke-look-a-like or the same cop with the rurouni. And the rurouni looks like you Kenshin."

"The blue-eyed girl in my latest dreams looks like you. But the dark-eyed girl from my past dreams looks like a girl I used to date in high school, Yukishiro Tomoe."

"So the majority of both of your dreams are about each other?" questioned Megumi. _I wonder if Sanosuke's dreams are about me…_

"Hai." Said Kenshin, giving Sanosuke a look.

_He's on to me. I think that he knows why I'm doing this already. He's a LOT more observant than he lets on._ Thought Sanosuke, as everyone focused on his list

Sanosuke's List

-Anger

-"A Choushou revolutionary, Himura Battousai…whose way is the ancient sword-school of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryuu…active for five years, from ages fourteen to nineteen…hired for the first half of his career…as a hitokiri…a relentless assassin lurking in the darkness of the night…and, in the latter half, acting as a free swordsman to protect his comrades from the government's killers, the Shinsengumi. Thus the killer who would have never seen the light of day became a legend. And in the deciding battle of the Boshin War…after victory in the first battle at Toba Fushimi, he disappears. And reappears as a rurouni."

-"Don't go wandering off somewhere without my permission!"

-Fox lady

-"My friend died because of her!"

-"Sagara-taichou…"

-"I want to crush the man who was called the greatest of the patriots!"

-"Futae no Kiwami…?"

-_If only I could forget…_

-"Bad governments perish! It's for the good of the people!"

-Fire

-Wood collapsing, blocking the way

-Protecting a woman

-Smoke

-Darkness

"That's basically it."

"Why's he get off easy?" demanded Kaoru. "I've been losing sleep over this! I can only take so much coffee before I'm too wired, damn it!"

"Do I LOOK like Kami to you?!" asked Sanosuke right back.

"Maa, maa. No doubt there's more he just didn't put on his list." Said Kenshin, giving Sanosuke a look over his tea. "Why don't we move onto Megumi-san's list, shall we?"

Megumi's List

-Family gone

-Opium making

-"Spider's web. Like ordinary opium, but better processed. With only half the poppy juice, it's twice as potent. Meaning four times the profits."

-"I'd rather eat you-know-who's cooking than opium woman's."

-"If my freedom is going to be apart of this deal, and force Ken-san's hand, then I chose execution!"

-"You're the only one he said good-bye to."

-Intense heat

-Wood popping

-A man on top of her

-_I wish he knew I love him…_

-Smokey darkness

-Blackness

"Once again, why'd the two of you get off easy?"

"I really think it's merely a matter of experience…"

"If anyone has anymore dreams or occurrences, don't hesitate to say so."

"And it'll snow in hell."

The bill having arrived, there was a short squabble over who paid. The tab ultimately fell to Kenshin and Sanosuke, Sanosuke having enough money for two. The bill paid, and everyone prepared to go his or her separate ways, Kaoru asked, "Kenshin, do you want to see the dojo? You seemed interested in going there."

"Would it be alright? I don't want to impose…"

"You wouldn't be! 'sides, no one even lives there."

"Okay then, I don't have a lot of papers to grade anyway."

"My car's outside, so let's go." Grabbing his hand, Kaoru dragged him out to her car.

"You set this up didn't you? So that those two would get closer?" asked Megumi, walking down the street with Sanosuke. Having to go back to work, he offered to walk her back.

"They look so lonely, Megumi. I just wanted someone to have happiness in their lives."

It was only when she was getting ready to leave her office and go home did she realize not only what he meant by his words, but that he had also called her by her given name. Eyes wide and hand poised over the shouji, she thought in shock, _Could…could he love me…? _Of course, only time would tell what affects, if any, would come from their little lists…

Japanese-English Glossary

Tanuki- a raccoon dog, Kaoru's nickname

Kitsune- fox

Tori-atama- bird head, Sanosuke's nickname

Shishou- master

Chotto matte- wait a minute

Hai- yes

Sessha wa rurouni- I am a wanderer

Hitokiri-sama- manslayer, what Jin-e calls Kenshin when they fight in the Japanese version of the manga

Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri- A manslayer is a manslayer until death

Satsujin- murderer

De gozaru yo- that I don't (when used in the context it's in)

Mou korosu- I will kill you now

Ano- umm

Ken wa kyouki- A sword is a weapon

Kenjutsu wa satsujinjutsu- The art of swordsmanship is the art of killing

Nigete!- Run!

Taichou- Captain

Kami- God

Maa, maa- 'There, there' is the closest I'm coming up with. Kenshin uses it a lot when Kaoru's pissed

I'm still gonna shamelessly beg for reviews, so please go to the purple box below.


	6. Flowing

Pain of the Past

Chapter 6

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Summary: See Chapter 1 for complete summary.

Chapter Summary: Kenshin and Kaoru discover that the old dojo may have played a bigger role in their past lives then previously thought, more images, and more hints to how they may have died in Meiji. Time is fluid, and the past begins to flow into their lives once again.

Note: Not really much to say, just that I am completely disregarding Reflections. I've never seen it, and would probably only want the DVD to complete the OVA DVDs and to find out exactly what happens, since from what I've found out, it's pretty damn depressing. Story's after the battle with Enishi, about a year, and before Kenshin and Kaoru are married and have Kenji. Sanosuke stayed in Japan, and Megumi never went back to Aizu. At this point, only the core Kenshin-gumi, with Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, Sanosuke, and Megumi, are going to be in the story. Tae's gonna play a minor role, mainly just to bug Sano about his tab. (heh) The people I consider to be 'outer' Kenshin-gumi members, like the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu, Saitou, and Hiko, along with Yutaro, at the moment would only be seen in the flashbacks and dreams, or mentioned in conversation but never seen. Tusbame will mainly be mentioned in conversation to annoy Yahiko about his love life, and might make a minor appearance, depending on if I think she could add something to the story…or plot. Not sure even if I HAVE a plot. If you haven't guessed already, I'm making this up as I go. (sweat drops) I mean, I have a general idea of what's gonna happen, just not the whole story down to every little detail. I find that I do better in the long run if I don't plan ahead; stories just turn out better that way. So please bear with me. But right now I'm happy cuz last time I checked my Chem. Grade, I have a 99.0 in Chemistry, at the Honors level, which is better than my dad did in all four years of college. So I'm kinda giddy.

Thank you to: mellyd, Lady Alexiel (anonymous), Candace Goodnight, and rain angst for reviewing this story.

mellyd: I'll try and make some big things happen soon, so don't stop reading b/c nothing big's happened yet. I probably haven't even hit the main conflict yet; all this is just side conflict. ; So please stay with the story!

Lady Alexiel (anonymous): Sorry 'bout overdoing the definitions; but this is where Catholic school education taught me to be through; sorry if you think it's halting the story.

Candace Goodnight: Thanx for the gold star! For that you get a cyber cookie! Wish I had a real one, 'specially a homemade chocolate cookie one.

rain angst: You also get a cyber cookie!

Ya want a cyber cookie? Make me feel loved! Flamers… I'll just hand you over to Koinu-chan16, or my friend Marie. And you don't want that. If you criticize in a polite, respectful way, I'll listen, but be rude, and you'll get yours. Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.

Chapter 6-_ Flowing_

When we think of Time, we think of a moving entity, moving in one direction, never being able to recapture the past…or relive it. But Time is fluid, always flowing…and perfectly capable of moving in directions other than forwards. Some might compare it to water, where you think you've got a hold of it; it flows away, slipping through your fingers, escaping.

Love's a lot like that too. Just when you think you have it, it slips through your fingers, sometimes forever, sometimes it comes back. But whether or not it stays is entirely up to you.

Hitokiri Battousai learned that lesson the hard way, learning it when his katana caressed his lover's flesh in the worst way imaginable. He was marked then, marked with what love can do at its worst, when passion and desire and the will to live couples with instinct and becomes the demon that lives in us all, what happens to us when we let instinct and passion rule us, and guide us.

The only thing more terrifying than when we become that demon…is when we let it come, when we welcome it.

When the Rurouni side of Kenshin lost his love, when her heart was shattered by the cold metal of deadly Western technology, he was encompassed by his grief and rage. Battousai also let his grief at losing his second happiness and rage at the one who struck her down surround him, and when the Rurouni willingly shattered the shields that had held him back for so long, he answered the summoning of the ice-cold war blood. And in that moment, he became the true Battousai.

Battousai lives, even in this modern day where he's thought of as mere myth, in the darkness of the mind whom now bears the soul of his innocence. And now that his Rurouni side has found his second happiness…he's not going to let her go. He waits patiently, for the ten long years between the battleground of Toba Fushimi and Meiji Tokyo, along with the hundred years to be re-incarnated taught him a valuable lesson in patience. He waits to claim what is his, and claim her in the best and only way he knows how.

But that path is closed to him, for so long as the naïve and oblivious Rurouni re-incarnate of Kenshin held control and was unaware of his existence, he was trapped in their mind. There were cracks in the shield, not large enough for him to take control from, but large enough for him to send hints to Rurouni. They may not be the hints gentle enough to spark a return in his memory, but then again Battousai was a warrior of war, destined to live in the heat of battle. They were enough for Rurouni to start slowly putting the pieces together, enough for flashbacks to start occurring on their own. Enough for the cracks to, ever so slowly, begin to widen, and weaken the shield further.

And so Himura "Hitokiri" Battousai waited. Waited for the day he could claim his second happiness and never let her go. Ever.

Back with Kenshin and Kaoru in safer waters… 

In the drive over to the dojo, there was a silence that wasn't the uncomfortable kind that begs to be filled, but one where you aren't scrambling for some way to end it. The only thing besides the noise of the city that broke the quiet over the car was the music from her CD player, an American song that Kenshin vaguely recognized. "What's this song called?" he asked Kaoru.

"My Immortal. It's by an American band called Evanescence. It's my favorite foreign band."

Nodding slightly, Kenshin listened to the words.

I'm so tired of being here 

Suppressed by all my childish fear 

_And if you have to leave_

_I wish that you would just leave_

_Because your presence still lingers here_

_And it won't leave me alone_

_These wounds won't seem to heal_

_This pain is just too real_

_There's just too much that time cannot erase_

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears_

_When you scream I'd fight away all of your fears_

_And I've held our hand through all of these years_

_But you still have all of me_

_You used to captivate me_

_By your resonating mind_

_But now I'm bound by the life you left behind_

_Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams_

_Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me_

_These wounds won't seem to heal_

_This pain is just too real_

_There's just too much that time cannot erase_

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears_

_When you scream I'd fight away all of your fears_

_And I've held your hand through all of these years_

_But you still have all of me_

_I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone_

_And though you're still with me_

_I've been alone all along_

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears_

_When you scream I'd fight away all of your fears_

_And I've held your hand through all of these years_

_But you still have all of me…_

"It seems to tell about us, don't you think?" Kaoru asked, having reaching the dojo but leaving the car on until the song was over.

Caught off guard Kenshin exclaimed, "Oro?"

"Think about it. With all of the dreams we've been having, it really does seem that we're haunting each other."

"There's still the possibility that we're dreaming."

"Then how can we be in each other's dreams?" she challenged.

"How can we-" Kenshin we caught off guard as the street shifted, and changed to a completely different one, an old fashioned one. "How can we be in Meiji Tokyo?"

"Nani yo?" Looking around, Kaoru saw that Kenshin was right.

"Look, " he said, pointing. Turning to where he had pointed Kaoru gasped. It was the man from her dreams, clear as day, the man whom looked like Kenshin, dressed in an old-fashioned faded red kimono and white hakama. A bag was slung over his shoulder as he walked, completely walking through Kenshin's outstretched arm, as if he wasn't there at all. "Okay, what the hell is going-"

"Hitokiri Battousai!"

The man turned, blinking, and Kenshin and Kaoru turned with him. It was Kaoru, dressed the same as the Kenshin look-a-like, but in a dark blue kimono and hakama. She also carried a bokken. She said, "At last I've found you. Your two months of bloodshed in the streets ends tonight. Prepare yourself!"

"Oro?" was the questioning reply from the other Kenshin, as well as from her Kenshin. The other Kaoru continued. "Don't play innocent with me! Who else would ignore the edict and walk around with a sword!"

She charged him, and swung at him and he leaped out of the way, but crashed into a fence and fell to the ground in a heap."That didn't take long…Hitokiri Battousai?"

"Rurouni. Sessha wa rurouni. Sessha is merely a tabi no kenkaku, de gozaru yo. Sessha doesn't know anything about bloodshed in the streets-" said the other Kenshin, being cut off by the other Kaoru.

"Well-well how do you explain this katana at your waist? Kenkakus aren't allowed to wear real katanas!" she exclaimed, drawing the blade.

Kenshin drew in a sharp breath as everyone, both past and present, saw that it was a sakabatou. While the other Kaoru went on about the sword, the present day Kaoru asked, "Doushita?"

"I have that exact same sword, at my apartment. It belonged to my mother's ancestor's pupil. The reason I have it is because that not only was I named for him, but also I supposedly look like him. And every year, on May 14th, it somehow gets covered with bloodstains, and the next day, they're gone."

The scene faded, with the other Kaoru running off towards the police whistle, and the present day Kaoru and Kenshin found themselves standing in front of the dojo gate, as if the vision had never occurred. "What the hell was that?!" exclaimed Kaoru.

"This hasn't happened before?"

"Not like this! The last few times it's just been washed out images, bloodstains, and no sounds! Not a whole event playing out before my eyes when I'm not even in the area where it happened!"

"It's highly doubtful that the street we found ourselves on exists in the present day. This may sound strange…"

"Nani?"

"…but it almost seemed like Time—folded back on itself—in a sense. We think of Time as something where, once that moment has pasted, we never experience the same way again for the rest of our lives. By definition every human contact is a singular event that cannot be repeated, so the only way that we could have seen what we did was if, for a few minutes, we actually traveled back in time, per se, and witnessed something that otherwise we'd have no way of witnessing."

"But why'd your hand past through him?"

"Two objects cannot occupy the same point in space. You learn that in physics class. Maybe the same thing applies to souls as well. Maybe we were really seeing our past lives, and since two objects cannot occupy the same point in space—or time—it seems, obviously first right would go to the original 'object' occupying that space, and second right to visitors, and since technically we _were_ visitors there, we could only see and heard those events, but not interfere in them."

"Why can't we interfere with the past? Maybe if we did, we wouldn't be having the dreams."

"It's 'cause of the grandfather clause. Say you go back in time and kill your grandfather. Then your father wouldn't have existed, and neither would have you. But really you'd just have a different grandfather and a different father, and you'd be the only one to notice anything different with your reality."

"So even if we did interfere, then we could just wind up making things worse, right?"

"Exactly, and we'd be the only ones to notice that things had changed. And we wouldn't be changing time; we'd just be creating an alternate dimension, all because of the grandfather clause."

"Maybe you should've been a whatever it is that teaches this stuff, and not a Japanese history professor. You would've made more money that way."

"My guardian always told me that it's better to fail at something you love, then to succeed at something you hate. I only took the course because I needed my science credits to graduate. I was good at it, since it's mostly theory, but I didn't enjoy it. I enjoy Japanese history, and I like to see the light bulb go off in a student's head, so that's why I'm a professor."

"Never thought of it that way." Kaoru said, opening the gate.

Following her in, Kenshin noticed the smell of jasmine. _Must be her perfume, de gozaru. De gozaru? I've only seen that used in the old documents from the times of the samurai. Either I've been working too hard, or these dreams have made me lose it. Even if they were just my imagination, then why do I feel like I've been here before?_

Entering the dojo, Kaoru checked her watch and the sun. "It should be starting up soon…"

Her words were cut off as the same thing that happened outside by the gate happened again. Kaoru could tell that it was the same fight as before, but this time you could hear what was being said, and the people were solid. Seeing Kaoru's wide eyes, Kenshin asked, "This…hasn't happened this way before?"

"Iya. You couldn't hear what they were saying, and it wasn't like we were back in time." She said, and they both turned their attentions to the fight as it began.

From where they were standing, they could see the fight from the other Kaoru's point of view, meaning that when the other Kenshin raised his head up they could also see fully his now cold amber eyes, seemingly glowing in the darkness of the dojo. But the part that had both of them gasp was when the cop came back through the hole in the wall that the other Kenshin had sent him through. "My orders are to evaluate your strength. But I don't care about them now. Mou korosu."

The tone in the other Kenshin's voice was a mix of coldness, challenging, and what almost sounded like a dismissive tone. "Mou korosu ka? That's my line."

They were abruptly brought back to their own time as the other Kaoru fell to the dojo floor on her knees. Kaoru had unknowingly mimicked her counterpart's position on the floor as she stared wide-eyed at the bloodstains on the floor, which were fading slowly as the sun settled beyond the horizon, its lingering light casting long shadows over the floor. Kenshin was breathing hard, his left hand having gone to the exact same spot where his counterpart had been injured. "I…I just wanted to show you the dojo…I wasn't expecting this to happen." Said Kaoru, pausing as she breathed deeply as she stood, trying to calm her racing heart.

"That battle…"

"Nani?"

Turning to Kaoru, Kenshin said, "I've dreamed of that exact same battle every May since I turned twenty-eight. I also dream of leaving a blue-eyed girl behind…" trailing off as they found themselves standing by a stream, the other Kaoru watching the fireflies. The other Kenshin came up, and she was at first happy to see him, but then it turned to concern when she saw the look on his face. The other Kenshin was talking about how deep within himself there was a hitokiri who would never change, and that with each attack, he would draw more of Battousai out, and it would be harder for him to return back to the Rurouni with each battle. The other Kaoru argued back that he had always been able to go back to normal before, and that no matter what happened, he was still Kenshin, a rurouni who didn't kill. He told her how happy he was at the dojo, and he hugged her, to the shock of not only her, but to the present Kaoru and Kenshin. With a sad look in his eyes, the other Kenshin said, "Sessha wa rurouni. And it's time for me to wander once again." And letting go, walked away into the pitch-black darkness, alone. Kaoru fell to her knees with tears streaming down her face. As the present day Kenshin and Kaoru found themselves back in the dojo, a voice whispered to them a date: Meiji 11, May 14th.

Deep in Kenshin's mind with Battousai… 

Leaning back against a mental wall, sword in hand, Battousai whispered, "Time is beginning to flow once again…" He stood, and, placing his sword next to his wakizashi in his belt, continued. "I am no longer allowed to remain still."

Looking towards the barrier that held him to this place, watching Kenshin walk Kaoru from the dojo to her car, he asked, "What will you do, Rurouni?" His lips twisted into what mirrored a smirk, his eyes glowing slightly in the semi-darkness of Kenshin's mind. He knew what was coming. "There are two paths open to you: remember who and what you were—what you_ are_—or death. Those are your only choices, Rurouni…" His words trailing off as he chuckled, which grew into a laugh, the laugh of the insane, of those who are scheming something that's not entirely for the benefit of the light, the laugh of the darkness…of the flowing river of time…

End of Chapter 6-Flowing 

Note: How was it? It would've been longer, but I wanted to make this a Halloween chapter 'cuz it kinda seems like one to me. STILL gonna beg shamelessly for reviews. REVIEW ON PAIN OF DEATH!!!!!!!!!!! Also if you review and you're nice and don't put me down, I'll give you a cookie!

Glossary

Hitokiri Battosai- why are you even here?

Katana- Japanese sword

Rurouni- again, why are you here?

Nani yo? - What

Sessha wa rurouni- see chapter 1

Tabi no kenkaku- again, see chapter 1

Doushita- What's wrong? Or, What happened?

De gozaru- for the third time, why are you even here?

Iya- no

Mou korosu- see chapter 5 collective glossary

Mou korosu ka?- the previous, with the 'ka' making it into a question

Wakizashi- short sword wore with the katana by samurai

Please proceed to the little purple box at the bottom left-hand corner of your screen.


	7. Fire

Pain of the Past

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: If I owned RurouKen, would I be doing this?

Note: THIS STORY LIVES! No I didn't forget about it, I had writer's block. And a creativity boom on MI. Thank you, everybody who reviewed!

_Chapter 7- Fire_

Kaoru was uneasy. Why? She didn't know. She had had this sense of danger in her apartment building ever since she had come back from the dojo with Kenshin a few days ago.

Kaoru didn't put much stock in these feelings, but…

She still moved pretty much everything she owned out to the dojo. Her rent was coming up due, but she doubted that she'd stay when it came due. Kaoru only kept a week's worth of clothes in a duffel bag.

She was prepared for whatever could happen to the building, but she really hoped that whatever she was feeling would go away. It was driving her crazy. Also the dream of the rurouni leaving her on May 14th hadn't helped her mood either.

Sighing, she finished polishing the last bokken from her advanced class, and carefully stored it away. As she was doing that, Sanosuke popped his head. "Oi, jou-chan! You wanna come with me and Megitsune and Kenshin to the Akabeko?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Thought so." Kaoru sighed again. "How's Kenshin been?"

Sano narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her as they walked out of the school building. "Why?"

Shrugging she said, "Just curious. Seriously," she added to his disbelieving look. "Anyway, what about Megumi-san?"

"What…what about her?"

Kaoru gave him a wry look. "You care for her more than you care for me, and that's saying something."

"Why would I care about a kitsune like that!" _Can she read my mind or something? Does she know that I love Megumi? It's not as if she'd love me back, she prefers Kenshin over me, even if he'd never return her affections, especially now that he's in love with jou-chan._

Sanosuke's thoughts trailed back to his latest dream.

_Fire raged around them. He couldn't see Yahiko anymore, as he had ran over to Tsubame just before a beam fell, separating him and Tsubame from himself and…_

_His gaze turned down to the woman cradled under him. She was fighting to stay awake as he was, the smoke making it harder and harder to breathe. A beam had fallen around his legs as he pushed her out of its path, and Sanosuke knew he would never be able to move, not with his hand still messed up. It was mostly healed from the final battle with Enishi's men a year ago, but its strength wasn't back up to full. Of course, traveling the world hadn't helped either. _

_Sanosuke's sight blurred, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to breathe much longer. Looking down at Megumi, his secret love, he regretted never telling her just exactly how he felt. He knew what he was going to do. Suddenly grateful for her inability to hit for what he was going to do, he kissed her, giving her his last breath, if only it meant that she would survive even a moment longer. Darkness surrounded him, and briefly, almost like a ghost, Sanosuke felt tears against his cheeks._

Yanking his mind away from the dream, Sanosuke sat down across from Megumi. "Anything else unusual happen since what happened to Kaoru-san and I at her dojo?" asked Kenshin.

"I've just had this sense of danger at my apartment building. I've moved almost all of my things out to the dojo, but I hope nothing happens." Said Kaoru, adding sugar and cream to her coffee until it was a very, very, pale tan.

"I've only had this weird dream of being in a fire." Said Sanosuke. _I hope that they don't ask for details._

Megumi furrowed her brow in thought. "I've been having a dream like that too. Somebody was on top of me…I think he kissed me before he lost unconscious…or died…"

And needless to say, Sanosuke's heart leaped into his throat. _There could be hope for me yet, selfish as it may seem._

_Later that night…_

Kaoru rolled over, coughing. Opening her eyes, she saw smoke pouring from the vent she shared with her neighbor. Wide awake now, she grabbed her duffel bag, hastily slid on her shoes, and slid open the door.

Smoke poured from the stairway on the right. Kaoru dashed down the stairway down the far left end of the hall. Reaching the outside and fresh air, she ran far enough from the building as to not get caught in the mess. "Kaoru-san? Daijoubou de gozaru ka?"

"Ken…kenshin?" she stuttered out. "What…"

"My own apartment isn't too far from here. I saw the smoke. Daijoubou ka?"

"Daijoubou…de-" Kaoru started coughing again. Kenshin handed her a bottle of water, which she gladly downed.

"At least…" she began. "At least I haven't lost anything. I moved everything to the dojo except for this bag of clothes." Gesturing to the bag slung over her shoulder.

"I wonder who started this?" questioned Kenshin to the air.

"You'll find out soon enough." Said a voice, out of earshot of both Kenshin and Kaoru. "Oh yes…you will find out soon enough… and pay for your crimes…Battousai…"

_Inside Kenshin's mind…_

"So he's still alive. Or re-incarnated. I would recognize that ki anywhere. So powerful…yet it is weak from his rage and desire for revenge." Whispered Battousai.

Focusing in on the cracks in the barrier that held him, he smiled a chilling smile. "Very soon…you will finally remember everything. I will not let him take her away from us again, Rurouni. Even if I have to kill everyone in my way." His cold amber eyes flashed with anger and his dark promise.

Back in the real world, Kenshin shivered. He could not for the life of him figure out why he felt rage directed at a specific person. After all, he had no one to be that angry at…

…Or did he?

_End of Chapter 7- Fire_

Gomen nasai for the short chapter, but I figured that a short chapter was better than no chapter considering I last updated on Halloween. Sorry for the wait.

Would you believe I freaked out my friend Marie with my rendition of Battousai last chapter? I would probably freak her out with Battousai this chapter too. Of course, she says I've got a thing for redheads. Just because I like Rurouni Kenshin obsessively just about as much as Marie obsessively likes InuYasha and my friend Sarah obsessively likes Naruto doesn't mean I've got a thing for redheads!

Glossary:

Dojo- school of martial arts or kendo

Rurouni- if you don't know what it is, then leave

Daijoubou de gozaru ka?- Are you all right? (Kenshin asks Kaoru this after she frees herself from Jin-e's spell)

Daijoubou /ka- I'm fine/ Are you all right?

Please go to the purple/lavender/blue/periwinkle box. I'm beginning to think that in Rurouni Kenshin fanfics, people go running for the hills when they see "re-incarnation fic". At least I won't be like some other re-incarnation authors I've read. The stories are good, they just haven't updated in a year or two.


	8. Moving Day

Pain of the Past

Chapter 8

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Disclaimer: Okay, I know that I don't own RurouKen, and so do you.

Note: I'm alive! I've been working on the Millennium series a lot, and I wasn't really sure what to do next.

Review Responses:

Crewel: I'll try. I try to never make promises that I can't keep.

PnkyBananaJuice: Thanks. There's a big debate about that, so I'm saying kimono because if you watch the episode right after Kenshin meets Misao, she says that he has poor taste in kimono, both in the Japanese and English versions of the episode. I think that it's in the manga too…

Kute Anime Kitty: Thanks!

Chapter 8-_Moving Day_

"Y'know, I WAS joking when I invited the three of you to move in with me." Kaoru said, removing the last of Megumi's boxes from the backseat of Megumi's car.

"Well, Kenshin doesn't want to let you live the dojo alone, tori-atama is pulling a big brother, and I'm moving in to keep him in line."

Kaoru gave Megumi a wry look. "You want more time with Sanosuke."

"Huh-?" was Megumi's intelligent response.

Noticing her raising blush, Kaoru smirked and said, "You like 'im, don'cha?"

"I do NOT!"

"Oh please, you're ALWAYS checking him out!" Kaoru retorted as she slid the gate to the dojo open. "By the way, where are Sanosuke and Kenshin?"

"Gambling hall, where else? Tori-atama needs money to pay off his rent before moving. And I don't check him out!" Responded Megumi.

"You sure DO frequent the Akabeko, where Sanosuke more often than not mooches meals. Especially around the time HE'S there."

"I concede. I'm in love with him, not that he'll love me back."

Kaoru's proud look turned to one of surprise. "Why wouldn't he love you back?"

"Cuz he thinks that I'm stuck on Kenshin even though Kenshin's only got eyes for you now." Said Megumi, sliding the shouji back that lead to her room in the dojo.

Now it was Kaoru's turn to blush. "You don't know that."

"OI! BUSU! YA HERE?"

Walking out to the gate, Kaoru and Megumi were surprised to find Yahiko standing outside, a suitcase in hand and another on the ground. "Yahiko? What are you doing here?"

He sighed. "Dad's gotten transferred to America. Mom's goin' with him. I had a chance; go with them whose language I can't even speak and lose my friends, or stay with you. They're leaving tomorrow, so they'll be dropping off the stuff from my room tonight."

Kaoru took a moment to sigh. "Good thing there's enough rooms for everyone to have their own. And before you ask, yes there's electricity, plumbing, and central heating and air. Dad wanted this place to be like a home away from home, sort of the starting process for turning this back into a dojo. But after Mom died, that idea kind of bit the dust."

Setting Yahiko up in his room, Kaoru went to help Megumi unpack. "Why'd Sanosuke drag Kenshin to a gambling hall anyway? Sanosuke said that he doesn't gamble."

Megumi rolled her eyes. "It's because of Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. It lets him predict the outcomes, hence why Sanosuke drags him along when he plays dice."

"What's with the rent thing?"

"He got behind on the rent so his landlord wants it paid in full, even though he's moved out. Turns out that the landlord is the head of Ken-san's department at the university."

"Fujita-sensei? I've heard of him. Didn't he help the police with the fake swords at the museum?"

"Yup."

"Whoa. Guess Saitou's an indicative ki-" Kaoru stopped. "Why did I call Fujita-sensei 'Saitou'?"

"I dunno know." Megumi shrugged.

"Now that I think about it…" Kaoru furrowed her brow in thought. "Fujita-sensei looks a lot like the man I've seen in the scenes that occur around dusk in the training hall."

"Saitou…wasn't Saitou Hajime the leader of the 3rd squad of the Shinsengumi?" pondered Megumi. "Didn't he change his name to Fujita Goro during the Seinan Wars?"

"That could only prove that he's a descendant, not his reincarnation." Kaoru pointed out.

"Ya have to wonder though… But these dreams…these just didn't start up randomly. If only one of us started to have them, maybe, but all four of us? Beyond coincidence."

"Better make that five. I heard Yahiko talking to Tsukayama-kun that he had been having weird dreams. Particularly of the two of them hating each other, which doesn't make sense because those two are very close friends. The only person Yahiko gets along better with is Tsubame-chan."

"Tae-san's niece? The one who helps out at the Akabeko sometimes?"

"That's the one."

"Tadai---ma!"

"Sano get off!"

Running out to the gate, Kaoru and Megumi asked, "What happened to him?"

"In order of occurrence or relevance?" Kenshin asked back, hauling Sanosuke to his room.

"Either way." Shrugged Kaoru.

Megumi went over to 'relieve' Kenshin of his burden. In reality, she just wanted to grate on Sanosuke from his habits.

"Well, he got enough money to pay off Sa-Fujita-sensei, went back to gamble some more, and got drunk. All the while, using me as his chauffer."

Raising an eyebrow at Kenshin's slight slip of tongue, Kaoru asked, "Why didn't just take the bus? No wait he got himself banned… Scratch that, why didn't he just drive himself?"

"NO CAR!" called Sanosuke from his room, sounds of Megumi alternately slapping him upside the head and mixing up 'something'.

"Sano, you don't have a car because you don't have a license because you keep failing the test!" Kenshin called back.

Checking her watch, Kaoru was shocked to discover that it was only 5 PM. "Isn't too early to be drunk?"

"Not for Sano."

_Later that night around midnight…_

"Kaoru-dono? Can I talk to you?"

Yawning and rubbing her eyes, Kaoru slid open the shouji. "Ken(yawn)shin? What time is it?"

"Midnight. But something is going on in the training hall."

Yawning, she allowed him to lead her to the training hall. Megumi and Yahiko stuck their heads out of the shouji. "What's up?" Yahiko nearly yawned out.

Kaoru jerked her head, telling them to follow.

Sanosuke snored steadily on.

Reaching the training hall, Kenshin slid back the door. Megumi and Yahiko gasped in shock.

It was the same fight as before. "I couldn't sleep so I was walking around. Once I got here, around 11:58, THIS started up. Once it did, I went to get Kaoru." Kenshin explained.

It went on longer than it had when Kaoru and Kenshin had both seen it. Once 12:02 arrived, the scene and its accompanying bloodstains faded. The scene had faded when a woman who resembled Megumi called out "Ken-san!"

They all looked at each other. "What the-"

Growling, Kaoru wondered, "Couldn't they have chosen a day other than moving day!"

_End of Chapter 8- Moving Day_

Happy I updated? I know I am. I just needed to step away from Millennium II for a while, to double check what I want to do next.

Please proceed to the blue/purple/lavender/periwinkle box in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen.

Shouji: those screens you see in Japanese homes.

Seinan Wars: See Chapter 5 collective glossary


	9. Knowledge

Pain of the Past

Chapter 9

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

Disclaimer: Is this needed?

Note: Sorry it's been so long; homework. But I got a 94 on my first AP World History test, the only A I think…

Review Responses are on my profile. Blame FF dot net.

Chapter 9- _Knowledge_

When Kaoru, Sanosuke, and Yahiko saw the police tape around the school, they knew that it couldn't be good. Walking over to Principal Maekawa, Kaoru asked, "What happened?"

"Water main under the school blew, not to mention the boiler exploded, the ventilation system is suddenly full of mold, and all the fuses in the school's fuse box blew, which are all not commonly used anymore."

Kaoru winced at the list of damages. "What are you going to do?"

"The city is going to give us enough money to pay for someone to completely strip out the building, but it will have to be completely rebuilt inside. Thankfully, there's enough in the system's budget to rebuild inside, but it will be a few lean years after the rebuilding is complete."

"Was the kendo dojo affected?"

"Fortunately, no. It's far enough away from the school building that it wasn't really affected. The school will be closed, and by the time summer break's finished up, there should be enough ready rooms to teach in."

"Will the students be divided amongst other schools?"

Maekawa shook his head. "All the other schools in the district are filled to capacity. But something is bothering me."

"What is it?"

"I know you've moved out to the old Kamiya Dojo after your apartment building burned down recently, but at the time everything happened, it was around the time you would normally be in the staff room in the mornings."

"I got a later start because the tori-atama wouldn't get up." Kaoru growled, but quickly calmed and said, "Do you think that someone is targeting me?"

"I believe so, but that really doesn't make any sense. Your father had no enemies, and all the feathers you've ruffled amongst the National Kendo League have been soothed once you proved that you had skills. I would stay on my guard, Kaoru-kun."

Kaoru paled slightly. "You better be careful too. If someone IS targeting me, then they could go after those I associate with."

"Don't you worry, kenjutsu-hime." Smirked a voice from the shadows, watching Kaoru and Maekawa. "I won't be after him. There's only one person in the world that I'm after." Receding farther back into the shadows, he questioned the air. "I wonder if I'll have to kill you again right in front of him to draw out the one I want…?"

_Back at the dojo…_

Sanosuke laid stretched out on the porch of the dojo's living area. _Why'd someone attack the school? Those sorts of incidents don't just happen on their own, no matter how old the systems are._

He sighed. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Not with his dream. _Why do I keep dreaming of someone who looks like Megitsune? And this dojo. Now that I'm living here, this place…it's like I know every room, even though before yesterday I had never been in this part before. Why does it seem like my answers are just out of reach?_

Closing his eyes, Sanosuke dozed off, into a light yet dream-filled sleep.

Yahiko paused mid-stroke as he heard Sanosuke's snores. He rolled his eyes. _The only one of us NOT awake for two hours after what happened, and he's the one that falls asleep. Go figure. _

He continued to practice, the images from last night filling his mind. _That kid…he sure did look a lot like me. But what is going on here? These weird dreams of mine only started up a while ago, yet what they show seems very familiar. But the question is; are they a product of my imagination or did all the things they show really happen? Tho' I can't imagine arguing with Yutaro like that…_

The hope chest and dairy sat in front of her, seemingly mocking her. Kaoru sighed. _I have nothing to be afraid of. I have nothing to be afraid of. I have something—NOTHING—to be afraid of. Aw, forget it. _

Gulping, Kaoru picked up the dairy. On the front inside cover, there was a name. "Yukishiro…no wait…Himura…Tomoe…" she read slowly. _There was never anyone I know of with that name in the family or in the old dojo registries. Maybe she was the wife of the man in the picture, the one that looks like Kenshin and has the same name, and he had her diary. But she wasn't in the picture; did she die? _Kaoru clenched her teeth as a voice from memory rose in her, painful. "_The brother of Himura Tomoe, sessha's wife…the wife killed by sessha's hand…"_

"Okay, this has nothing to do with what I'm looking for, so on to the chest. Great, now I'm talking to myself." Kaoru muttered to herself.

She opened the chest. Kaoru carefully lifted out the old clothes that she had found when she had opened it before. She then carefully picked up the decorative bokken that rested beneath the clothes. It was beautiful, jasmine and sakura blossoms carved along the blade, painted, connected by braches to a single branch on the hilt. A baby tanuki sat at the base of the single branch, and a name was carved under the tanuki, painted in with gold. "'Kamiya Kaoru'. This belonged to my namesake?" Kaoru whispered.

Another memory filled her, this one not as physically painful. _The rurouni…gave this to her…for her 18th birthday…she wondered how he could have afforded to give this to her…carved it himself?_ Kaoru's mind returns to the present with tears in her eyes. _Why do I feel like something terrible happened only a few months after that happy day…when I…she…finally learned that he did love her…_

Rubbing her eyes, Kaoru picked up the old photograph and sat it aside, to show the others later. The chest was now empty. She frowned. _I guess that this doesn't have what I'm looking for. _"Wait…" she whispered. "In the room I'm in…there's another chest…"

Remembering that fact, Kaoru nearly ran to her room, after carefully replacing the clothing she had found, leaving out the bokken and photograph. She hadn't had the heart to move it into the closet when she claimed this room as her own. It felt like it belonged where it was. She opened the chest, and carefully removed the kimono, obi, hakama, and gi that rested inside one by one, looking for something that she knows she'll find.

Hitting bottom, Kaoru felt around for a loose plank that she somehow knew was there. Finding it, she lifted it up, reached into the space, and…

A diary. Flipping it open, Kaoru whispered the name that was written on the inside front cover, and realized that this may be what she was looking for. "'The diary of Kamiya Kaoru'…Kami-sama."

_Later that night…_

The five of them stared at the diary on the table, like it was going to bit them. "Well…who's gonna read it?" asked Yahiko.

"I think Jou-chan should read it. I mean, didn't it belong to your namesake or somethin'?" asked Sanosuke.

"It looks that." Kaoru didn't really look convinced by that.

Megumi sighed and said, "Well get on with it tanuki-chan."

"Don't call me that." Kaoru growled, but she reached for the diary anyway.

"This was definitely written in Meiji. Looks like it was started in February of Meiji 11. '_Today was…unbelievable. Otou-san once said that sometimes, if you write something out, you can deal with it better. I've had this diary for a while, so I guess I should start now. There's been a man calling himself Hitokiri Battousai who's been killing people in the name of my dojo, the Kamiya Dojo. I've been going out early every morning trying to find him. I can across this one man, about my height, wearing a sword on his belt. I attacked him, and he crashed into a fence. No idiot like that could possibly be Battousai. His sword wasn't even a proper blade! The cutting and blunt edges were reversed; a sakabatou. Why would carry a sword that can't kill? He said that he was a rurouni. Then the police whistle blew and I ran off. It was Battousai, attacking the policemen. I got cut, and the rurouni saved me. He's sleeping in the shed, 'cuz he ran in on me in the bathhouse. He's staying with me since I doubt that he has room for an inn. My last three students are gone; no one wants to learn the style that Battousai uses. But my family's dojo never teaches murder! It teaches self-improvement through the blade. Besides, the dojo was only established 12 years ago, after Battousai had made his name in Kyoto. Even now, the name 'Battousai' strikes fear. I hope the rurouni stays a while; even if he is a wanderer. He cooks better than me._' That's the end of the first entry." Kaoru said.

"Well read on!" exclaimed Sanosuke.

_Why do I seem to know just what is going to happen next?_ Wondered Kenshin.

Casting a worried look at Kenshin, Kaoru moved onto the next entry. "_'I know I wrote yesterday that what happened was unbelievable, but today was even more unbelievable. I had a dream last night, about a man that my father broke the thumb of and expelled 11 years ago. His name was Hiruma Gohei. Right after I found his name in the registries, he came in with a bunch of lackeys. He explained that he wanted revenge on the dojo for what happened. Also, with the westernization policy, the land value of the dojo would increase 5 or 6 fold. As I am the last of the Kamiya line that I know of, so long as he got my thumbprint on a new deed, he could get me out of the way and take the dojo. I couldn't hurt him; he was so much bigger than me. One of lackeys slid the door open, and fell, revealing the rurouni. Gohei asked him if he believed in my dojo's teachings of katsujin-ken, the sword that protects. He said no. As my heart fell, he said, "A sword is a weapon. The art of swordsmanship is the art of killing. No matter what pretty words you use to speak of it, this is its true nature. What Kaoru-dono says are the words of one who has never bloodied her hands; an idealistic joke. But sessha prefers her idealistic joke over the truth. If sessha could have a wish, it would only be that her joke became the truth of this world." Gohei ordered his lackeys to kill him. I yelled at the rurouni—there was no way he could have handled all of those guys—but he just stand there calmly, and told the lackeys that if they didn't like seeing the doctor, then they should leave. They answered back that no one would need a doctor; that there would only be his bloody corpse. They jumped him, and… he flattened them. Even with my training, I could barely keep up with his movements. Someone wondered out loud whether he was using magic. But it wasn't magic; it was speed. The only school that teaches that kind of_ _speed is so rare, with only one master and one apprentice, and there was no way that the rurouni could be of that school… Gohei took in the rurouni, and I realized what he did. Red hair…cross-shaped scar on his cheek…speed that rivals that of the gods…_

'_This sweet, smiling man was the most feared assassin of the Bakumatsu no Douran, Himura 'Hitokiri' Battousai._

'_Facing him, Gohei was no match for him. And after all that, that jerk was just gonna leave me to clean up the entire mess! He said some nonsense about it would be against my best interests to have the real Battousai staying in my dojo. I told him that if he insisted on going, that he could at least tell me his name. His real name. He told me. Himura Kenshin. 'Heart of the Sword', how fitting._

'_He wound up staying, if only for a while. But he's not sleeping in the shed. Unless he walks in on me in the bath again…_'"

The room was quiet. No one spoke, lost in thought about what they had heard. Slowly, one by one, as the minutes turned into hours, each retreated to their own room. Kenshin was the last to retreat.

Reaching his room, he sat down heavily on the tatami. _Why do I feel so possessive when I remember that incident? Like it hasn't been haunting my dreams for a few years now. _The feelings he had when he remembered his dreams…stunned him. The waves of possessiveness and anger that came off some dark corner of his mind, a corner he didn't want to acknowledge but somehow knew would have to in some future scared him. That part of him that declared Kaoru _his_. That part of him that bristled when Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke told him what happened to their school, the part of him that seemed to know just who was behind these incidents.

(_So you're finally starting to figure it out, Rurouni._)

Kenshin's eyes, which he did not remember closing, flew open at the sound of the voice inside his head. It sounded like him, but…harsher. Darker. Less sane.

"Who are you?" Kenshin whispered soundlessly. "Get out of my head."

(_But I can't do that, you see. I'm you and you're me. At least, I was once you. But now we are completely different. Except on one thing. You want to what that is?_)

Kenshin gulped as he slowly nodded his head, clinging to some desperate hope that whoever it was in his head was someone else.

(_She belongs to us. No matter how many times we die, no matter how many times we are reborn, she will always be ours. No exceptions._)

"No. I could never—not without her permission, and even then…" He tried to reason with the voice, but all he got in return was mocking laughter that sent chills up his spine.

Hands moving on their own, Kenshin lifted up one tatami mat, removed a loose floor board, reached into a hidden space, and…

A journal.

Kenshin stared at it, the way one watches an enraged snake or circling predator. He knew, without even checking for a name in the front inside cover, that it was his.

He had no classes the next day, and there was no way he was going to go to sleep, not with Crazy Voice-san in his head. Summoning his will, Kenshin opened the journal to reveal messy, barely legible kanji and kana, and began to read, searching for knowledge that he wasn't too sure that he wanted to learn…

_End of Chapter 9-Knowledge_

Sorry about the delay. I've been working on MII, and there's school, and my friend Sarah got me hooked on Gensomaden Saiyuki. If you want bishonen, read that. But I like the RurouKen guys better The Saiyuki guys remind me of some of the guys in RurouKen. Hakkai reminds me of Kenshin, Gojyo reminds me of Sanosuke, Goku reminds me of Yahiko, and Sanzo reminds me of Saitou. But with Lirin clinging on his head, since she reminds me of Misao, then he reminds me of Aoshi, if only because of that attraction, though he's more vocal.

Sorry about the lack of Sano/Megumi moments. This story focuses a lot on Kenshin/Kaoru, but their moment will be next chapter. If I remember. Their story is sad, but the Kenshin/Kaoru story is sadder. You'll see what I mean when I finally reveal just what happened.

Kenjutsu-hime: Kenjutsu princess

Sessha: Kenshin's 'I', Viz translates it as 'this one'

Bokken: wooden sword

Kimono, gi, hakama: Japanese clothing. There's more than one of each in the chest, but you don't do plurals in Japanese, you use counting numbers, but I don't know those prefixes for clothing.

Obi: sash worn with the kimono

Kami-sama: Oh my god

Tanuki: raccoon dog

Otou-san: Father

Bakumatsu no Douran: Bakumatsu

Tatami: those floor mats you see in anime and manga, if they're in a traditional house and/or a shrine

Kanji: Chinese symbols used in Japanese writing

Kana: symbols used in Japanese writing that are purely Japanese but derived from kanji; there's two different systems, one used for native words, the other used for loan words taken from languages other than Chinese and for emphasize on words.

Ya see that button in the bottom right hand corner? The one calling your name and begging you to click it? Click it and tell me what you think.


	10. Confessions

Pain of the Past

Chapter 10

By Hikari Tsuki Chi

I really don't have to say that I don't own this, do I?

Note: I am very, very, sorry. On top of slight writer's block, I just have not had the desire to write fanfiction at all. No thanks to my English teacher, who hasn't actually supported creative writing too much. I'm very sorry. Since I have to be in the right mood to write, and I just haven't been in said mood, therefore I haven't updated in like forever. And a day.

_Chapter 10- Confessions_

_I wish I knew what to say._

_All you seem to see is him. I'm just the tori-atama that hangs by the side, always needing fixin' after a wrestling watch or brawl. Before these dreams started, I thought that I'd finally have the courage to approach you about just how I feel, then run before I could face your rejection. Brave guy, right?_

_But with these dreams starting up, and Jou-chan's apartment building burning down, and the school suddenly getting all these problems…_

_I'm not sure that this is the right time._

_But if I wait too long, I'll just lose you again to the flames and smokes…_

_Man, I thought I had gotten those memories of my look-a-like outta my head, but I guess not._

_You see, Megitsune, I haven't just having dreams about what seems to be a past life. They're memories of a guy who lived and died in Meiji Jidai who had my name and face. They keep popping up, and every single time I see something that he must've known or remembered…his memories fill my head, fill in a gap that I never realized was there. _

_That's probably why I like wrestling so much. And why I'm afraid of trains. _

_That's how I met Kenshin, you know._

_At the Akabeko one day a couple of years back, as I was goin' in, I ran into him as he was coming in too. I thought he was a gaijin, 'cuz of his hair, until he apologized with in trace of an accent. Everything in my being was screaming at me that I knew this guy, who was Japanese through and through despite his gaijin coloring, and that if I didn't get to know him then, then we'd just kept running into each other until we did become friends. I told it wasn't his fault anyway; that it was mine, offered to make it up to him, and the rest is history. _

_Yeah, yeah I know it's not like me, but I haven't been sure just what is 'me' ever since I was a teenager. _

_Oww, what was that for!_

_Yeah, I know I'm a baka tori-atama, what else is new?_

_What, you actually wanna hear how I feel about you!_

_You didn't hafta hit me again you know. _

_Alright, alright I get the picture. If I don't fess I don't get fixed up for free anymore._

_How badly are you goin' hurt me if I tell that how I feel about you is that I love you?_

_Huh? What are you doi….._

_Fine, I'm shutting up now. Megitsune._

* * *

_Say something, tori-atama._

_All I don't see is him, baka! You're a coward, you know._

_What about them?_

_What do you mean by that?_

"_My look-a-like's memories"! Spill. Now. _

…_That certainly explains a few things now doesn't it?_

_I was talking about your stubbornness._

_Why are you changing the subject?_

…_That last bit wasn't like you at all._

_(hits him)_

_You tori-atama!_

_Tell me you feel about me!_

_(hits him again)_

_Fess up or I don't fix you up for free anymore after you come stumbling to my door after one of your brawls._

_(gasps, hopeful look on face, hugs him, and kisses him)_

_Shut up tori-atama_

* * *

Yahiko shook his head as he watched Megumi's and Sano's silhouettes embrace and kiss. Once Megumi's silhouette started pulling at Sano's silhouette's shirt, he rolled over, facing the wall. 

"Did they really hafta talk outside MY room?" he muttered.

"Now only if Kaoru and Kenshin could confess how they feel to each other?" he whispered as his eyes drooped from sleep.

_Yeah right, if they do confess, then it won't be to each other. They'd die before they make confessions of their feelings to each other, even if those'll be more angsty than those two lovebirds'…_

_End of Chapter 10-Confessions_

All the terms used in this chapter y'all should know. If you don't then look them up.

Send me reviews. Lots of reviews happy Hikari more motivation (hopefully) faster update.


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